- XB Fighter
- |
- Intrepid Legendary Member
"So- So this means Im just going to be miserable for the rest of time?!"
"No. This means that you have to live life to the fullest. You have one life, live it well. Make sure you die without regrets. Get a new life, new mate, new family. You, out of all people, don't deserve a terrible fate of misery like that. Having nothing to look forward to is good. It makes sure you want to keep on going. Living is a right, not a privilege."
***I cough into my arm, and I then stare at it, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I eventually make out my arms shape.... but nothing else. I need to see if I coughed up blood, it would tell me if my lungs were damaged. But I guess sight isn't going to tell me anything..... I grimace as I move my left arm up near my right, and I place my left hand next to my right. My right holds onto my left tightly, and I pull my left away while the right keeps its grip. There..... my glove's off. I put my left hand where I coughed, and my arms lights up with pain. Yep... I feel something wet..... but I remembered the explosion. My right arm is burnt up.... Im feeling the blood leaking out of my skin. Suddenly, all my pain starts appearing. Im becoming conscious... I cough again***
*cough cough cough* Ugh.... [-blam!-].......
***My name is Martin Burdict. Lt. Commander Burdict. Im what you call a veteran.... I was here..... on Harvest..... when it all happened. When the Covenant attacked. And now Im here again. When the Reapers attacked. And instead of getting pulled out of a pelican... Im stuck here. Trapped under one of those mobile apartments. Luck got the best of me, but I was fighting near the stacks of Mobile apartments, and one fell. I happened to go through the window, and if Im correct.... The kitchen oven exploded and the fire knocked me out. My squad got squashed by the rest of the apartment...... But I happened to go through the window. Heh..... sometimes I think God keeps me here just to -blam!- with me. The old bastard loves seeing me suffer....... I can't even feel my legs. Or most of the right side of my body. I feel around me, and eventually, I come to the realization that the dining table, made up of steel and glass, landed on my legs, broke both of them. My head is resting on the side of the bed, Im sitting up. I can hear the booms and gunshots from battles afar.... The deep, mechanical groans of the Reapers..... the barking orders of the Sangheili helping us..... the high pitched squeals from Bedouin Fighter Jets..... the screaming of humans. I start to hear more rustle from outside the apartment, I hear voices, voices from all 3 races. I hear a knock on the metal casing of the apartment, they're just looking at it. Little do they know Im in here.***
HEY!!!! *cough* IN HERE!!!!!!
*I hear them talking.... but I can barely make it out. I decided to yell once more*
IN!!!!!!!!! HERE!!!!!!
*They start talking in rushed tones, and they start moving away. I track their voices to the far side of the apartment. Then, I hear a crash, and more moving*
Human Soldier 1: Smells like burnt plastic in here.....
Human Soldier 2: Somebody in here?!
Sangheili Soldier: Probably nothing.... We should get on with our mission.
*I chuckle, and they go silent*
Im..... Im alive.... Im here....... *cough*
*I hear more movement, and I see a bright light, flashed in my face. I move my left hand to my eye, blocking the light*
Human Soldier 1: Holy -blam!-! Someones here! Oh my.... He's covered in blood...
Bedouin Soldier: This isn't training. Blood will be a common sight.
*The human gets closer to me, and kneels beside me. He lowers the light, and I look at him. He's an ODST, with a helmet on. Using his light, I look around me. I have blood splattered across me, and both my feet are ripped off. The right side of my body is completely burnt, including my clothes. Red blood and burnt white skin.... not a pretty sight. The ODST notices the remains of my uniform*
ODST: He's one of us...
You bet your *cough* ass I am....
*I see the sangheili, he looks at me, and huffs*
Sangheili: He's too damaged. He's not worth saving.
ODST: He still deserves to be saved. Maybe he wants to survive.
*I can tell the kid's young. Maybe 20..... 23..... one of those two. Im nearly 46....*
Gah.... shut up.... I don't have much time left... I want you to hear me out....
*The ODST looks at me, then behind him. I see the second human, who's also a ODST*
ODST 2: Dude..... we don't have much time. We need to go.
*The Sangheili nods in agreement, but I can't see the Bedouin. The ODST looks at me*
ODST: Whats your name and rank?
*I smile... Or I try. My face is pretty burnt.... I would take a guess and say unrecognizable.*
Im Lieutenant Commander Burdict.... Martin Burtict.....
*The ODST stares at me. Whats his expression? I can't tell behind his visor. He looks back to the others, they look a bit... unsettled. After a small period of silence, the second ODST sighs*
ODST 2: We'll meet you at the nav-point. Please... make it quick.
*The seconds ODST nods to the Sangheili and Bedouin, and they crawl out of the wreckage. The ODST takes a flashlight out of his bag, and he sets it against the wall, using it as a lantern. I look at him in confusement*
ODST: You wanted me to hear you out.
*I smile, and I cough*
Thanks..... I..... I never wanted to be a soldier. Never, ever did. But my life.... Its been filled with so much hate.... I guess I just did it to soothe my conscious... But it never did.
*I prop myself up a bit, and I flinch with pain as I feel the ground rub up against the nubs of my leg bones, I let out a single sob of pain*
ODST: Sir! ..... You alright?
*I cough, chuckling again*
Yeah yeah...... Well.... 31 years..... 31 years and 6 months ago..... Harvest was attacked by an unknown enemy. I was just 15 at the time.... I was just a farmer.... And my entire family was killed. Father, Mother, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, everything. I was the only Burdict to make it out of Harvest alive.... this set me down a road I now know ultimately brought me to unrest.... Complete, emotional unrest. I joined the military once I was able..... And they put me straight to work. I refused all promotions to become an officer... I wanted to stay on the front lines, kill every single one of those bastards.... I had a great time doing it, I admit. But I saw some pretty sick [-blam!-]..... I've had a total of 17 squads, each of them, all dead. Or...
*I look around me, we can see lots of blood seeping from the window below us*
..... 18.... squads...... All my superiors called me the best of the best. Well..... after one of my tours..... I visited Reach. I found a beautiful girl..... so beautiful..... her name was Shannon..... we loved each other sooo......
*I squeeze my eyes shut, trying not to shed a tear. The ODST stays motionless, listening. I open them, a single tear falls down my right cheek, as it falls I feel my cheek light up with pain from the wet contact.*
........... We got married. I was 22. I thought it was the perfect age to get married.... Well, she got pregnant.... and I went on two more tours. I went across the galaxy.... fighting those damn aliens........ I came back, and its only been a few years. She had a beautiful baby boy.... We had contacted each other while I was stationed, we named him after my father, Derek. Derek Burdict...... He was just like me...... Shaggy, dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes, goofy smile. Just like me. Soldier, if you saw me without these burns.... You'd understand. I don't mean to brag... But my hair is what made me good lookin.
*I chuckle, and the ODST chuckles too. We feel the ground rumble, and we hear a loud mechanical groan. More lasers, and explosions..... Another Reaper has landed*